As we all know, there is a very bullish saying in the history of the late Qin Dynasty, although Chu has three households, the death of Qin will be Chu.
The direct meaning is that even if there are only three households left in the Chu State, it will be the Chu State that will destroy the Qin State in the future.
This is too imposing, and there are many different views around this sentence, let's first understand who said this sentence.
This phrase appears in the
History of Xiang Yu Benji
At that time, Fan Zeng, a veteran unstable person, ran to see Xiang Liang and told Xiang Liang that the State of Qin had destroyed the Six Kingdoms, and among the six kingdoms, only the State of Chu was the most innocent and died the most unjustly, and when king Huai of Chu arrived in the state of Qin and did not return, the people of the state of Chu sympathized with the poor king of Qin Huai, so duke Nan of Chu put down a word.
Although Chu has three households, Qin will be Chu when he dies.
It can be seen that this sentence was said by Chu Nangong. This person was an aristocrat of the Chu Kingdom and had a unique view of the general situation in the world. This sentence of his eventually became the best annotation for the fall of Qin.
The record also mentions a historical event:
King Huai of Chu arrived in the Qin kingdom and did not return.
What's going on?
Let's first understand the king of Chu Huai, who became the king of the Chu state in 328 BC. The State of Chu has always been a great power in the Spring and Autumn Warring States, and after King Huai of Chu ascended to the throne, he also used some capable people, such as Qu Yuan, who is known to everyone, and now some scholars have also verified that Qu Yuan and King Huai of Chu are a pair of CP.
At that time, it was catching up with the old Central Plains power Wei State, and the State of Chu seized this opportunity to fight the State of Wei and conquer the State of Yue, and the national strength was extremely strong, and it can be said that it was the most powerful country at that time, like the State of Qi and the State of Wei, which all wrote letters to the State of Chu.
Next, the State of Chu would have to face a more powerful State of Qin.
With King Huai of Chu as the commander, Chu Qi, Zhao Wei and other states formed a Seven Kingdoms Alliance to jointly conquer Qin.
At this time, there was a guy who came to the Chu Kingdom. This person is Zhang Yi, who uses his tongue to promote the historical process of the Warring States.
Zhang Yi fooled the State of Chu and said that the State of Qin was willing to exchange six hundred miles for the State of Chu and the State of Qi to break off diplomatic relations. Chu Guo took a look, six hundred miles of land, don't be white, and quickly break off diplomatic relations with Qi Guo. As a result, after breaking off diplomatic relations, Zhang Yi said that there were only six miles.
That's the downside of not signing a contract. Of course, King Huai of Chu could not bear it, and went to clean up the Qin state with his soldiers and horses.
This kind of arrogant soldier has always been a failure. The State of Chu was greatly defeated by the State of Qin. Since then, the Chu state has begun to decline.
At this time, King Zhaoxiang of Qin of the Qin Kingdom sent a letter to the State of Chu, asking King Huai of Chu to meet at Wuguan, and everyone talked about life. Of course, this kind of thing can't go. King Huai of Chu was bold and wanted to go, and after he went, he was detained by the State of Qin without any suspense.
This is very unpretentious. During the Spring and Autumn period, this was despised and condemned by the international community.
However, having said that, in the Spring and Autumn, everyone will talk about rules and regulations when meeting, and they will not detain or kidnap the king of a country at the venue. But there is one country with an exception, and this country is the Chu state. The Chu state specializes in this kind of thing.
Once, he also kidnapped Song Xianggong.
At that time, the State of Qin was a bitter haha in the west, especially honest, and often ate the losses of the Shanxi Yan, that is, the Jin people.
Feng Shui took turns, and the Qin kingdom turned out to be the most slippery country. The Chu people, who had always been unimpressed, turned out to be victims of rules.
At that time, the state of Qin detained the king of Chu Huai and demanded that the state of Chu cut the land, and the king of Chu Huai was quite skeletal and did not cut it when he was killed. In the end, King Huai of Chu was kidnapped by the State of Qin.
At this time, the master of the Qin state was the Empress Xuan of the Qin State, who was originally a native of the State of Chu, surnamed Qi, and known as Qi Bazi.
Sure enough, it was a married daughter-in-law, and her arm was turned outward.
Later, King Huai of Chu also escaped, and when he arrived in the State of Zhao, the State of Zhao did not dare to take him in, and ran to the State of Wei, where he was captured by the State of Qin. King Huai of Chu, who became a prisoner of the order, eventually died depressed. He went alive to attend a meeting with Qin, only to return lying in an ox cart.
Because he will not cut the land to the Qin state until his death. The people of Chu had both respect and heartache for King Huai of Chu, and the whole country was extremely sad, and seeing this scene, Duke Nan of Chu dared to say: Although Chu has three households, qin will be chu when it dies.
This vendetta, anyway, the Chu people want to repay.
So, what is the concept of this three households?
The most popular saying refers to the three surnames of the Chu state:
Qu, Jing, Zhao.
There is also a saying that refers to the place name, the three households of the Zongmiao Temple of the Chu State, that is, even if there are only three households left in the Chu State, the Chu State can eventually destroy the Qin State.
The last statement is that the State of Qin owes the Most Debt to the State of Chu, and the people of the State of Chu have the greatest desire for revenge. There are only three families left, and they will also destroy the Qin state.
And the trajectory of history is also very interesting, it is indeed three Chu people who died in Qin.
The first, of course, is Chen Sheng, who is a Native of the Chu State and established a regime called Zhang Chu.
Chen Sheng can be said to have made a start, followed by Xiang Yu. After Xiang Yu was a Chu general, his team was called Xi Chu. Xiang Yu defeated the main force of the Qin state. The puppet that Xiang Yu found was called King Huai of Chu, which was probably also to stimulate the revenge of the Chu State.
The last person was Liu Bang. Liu Bang was also a native of the Chu state, and he directly smashed the Yellow Dragon and copied Xianyang, the hometown of the Qin state.
It can be said that these three Chu people relayed back and forth, and finally ended the Qin Dynasty.
Finally, let's talk about why the Chu state lost to the qin state. The most important point should be the failure of talent. The State of Qin used the talents of the world, and the State of Chu not only could not introduce and reuse outstanding talents from outside, such as Wu Qi, who was originally very cattle, but also made achievements in the State of Chu, but was eventually killed. Talents in the Chu state are still outflowing. Like Li Si was originally a Native of the State of Chu, but in the State of Chu he did not get the opportunity to be promoted, and only had to go to the State of Qin to meet the opportunity.
Only Chu has talent, but "although Chu has materials, Jin is practical" has cultivated talents for other countries.
The implication of this is:
If China wants to be strong, it is still necessary to establish a good talent mechanism, such as allowing China's outstanding students to return to China and be useful after returning home. In this way, China can become stronger and stronger.